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FRIENDSHIP IS A VERB
Our ability to show God to others depends upon our own relationship with Him.
We show to others what we have ourselves.
All Things To All Men
God’s love becomes a pillow
To catch us when we fall.
God’s love becomes a ladder
To help us over the wall.
God’s love spreads like a blanket,
Protecting; safe; secure.
God’s love, like fresh white driven snow
Is even, deep and pure.
God’s love is our anchor,
Firm when the tempests rage.
God’s love is a strong and solid rock
Which never changes with age.
God’s love is a prickly thorn bush;
Close encounters can cause us pain.
God’s love is a mighty waterfall,
Washing us again and again.
God’s love is God’s love,
To which our love cannot compare.
We need to take the risk,
Make sure it’s God’s love that we share.
Yes, God’s love is God’s love,
To which nothing can compare.
Unending; unchanging; unconditional.
This is the love we must share.
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Living By Example
Climbing up the ladder,
Really making waves.
Heading for high profile;
Shouting “Jesus Saves!”
No time for hangers on;
No time for those who feel
I’m living life too hard;
It’s my glory they try to steal.
No time for giving in.
No time for making space
For anyone, but myself.
No time for mercy or grace.
No time to wait for others;
No time to stand and stare.
We live in a competitive world;
No time to lend or share.
No time to look outside,
No time to see their needs.
I can only think about me.
No time to sow the seeds
To help others look for God,
Or find Him through how I live.
And I’ll leave it to my friends
To demonstrate how to forgive.
Trophies
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Worship Leader; Homeless Feeder;
Pastor; preacher; politician.
Prayer Co-ordinator; Artistic Creator;
Sunday School Teacher; Director of Mission.
Legal protector; company director;
Surgeon; solicitor; scientist.
University professor; Property assessor;
Designer; doctor or dentist.
Position; status; it’s how we rate us;
Our raison d’être; identity labels.
Doing not being; looking, ever seeing
Exactly where we rank in the tables.
Little distinction; some facing extinction.
We’ve lost our community spirit.
Image worth more than care for the poor.
Of the world, not just in it.
God raises His people above any steeple.
He’s with us outside these four walls.
We’ve heard His command to spread through this land
And beyond, as His Spirit calls.
So friends, it’s time for us to align
Our actions with words cheaply spoken.
We are who God made us and He doesn’t grade us.
As we learn that, our spirit’s awoken.
It’s not the trophies we own, but how we have grown,
And how we apply what we are given.
As we give Jesus space, to direct our race,
We become led, not constantly driven.
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Showing God’s love to others comes with a cost. Are we prepared to pay the price?
If Only Love Was Spelled Easy
If love is easy,
Why does it hurt so often?
Why must it not be conditional on what others do?
Why does it demand forgiveness?
Why is it not enough only to say the words?
Why does it require us to change for others?
Why does it insist on reconciliation?
Why am I broken when it isn’t reciprocated?
Why does it cost me so much?
Why did it cost you everything?
Why?
Why think about others?
Why offer help to the poor?
Why care for the needy?
Why open my door?
Why make the effort?
Why try to show love?
Why do it myself?
Why make the first move?
Why give up the time?
Why put self aside?
Why lend a helping hand?
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Why lay down my pride?
Why dare to dream?
Why change what I do?
Why think outside the box?
Why be different to you?
Why enjoy my life?
Why celebrate fun?
Why be myself?
Why rejoice when I’ve won?
Why talk about God?
Why let Him work in me?
Why learn to give away?
Why learn to be free?
One Word
Why not think about others?
Why not offer help to the poor?
Why not care for the needy?
Why not open my door?
Why not make the effort?
Why not try to show love?
Why not do it myself?
Why not make the first move?
Why not give up the time?
Why not put self aside?
Why not lend a helping hand?
Why not lay down my pride?
Why not dare to dream?
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Why not change what I do?
Why not think outside the box?
Why not be different to you?
Why not enjoy my life?
Why not celebrate fun?
Why not be myself?
Why not rejoice when I’ve won?
Why not talk about God?
Why not let Him work in me?
Why not learn to give away?
Why not learn to be free?
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Seeing God
‘They don’t like him, but the fool on the hill sees the sun going down and the eyes in his head see the world spinning round’ (Lennon & McCartney)
Thorns And Straw
A back street stable in a crowded town.
Anguished screams; an occasional moan
Go unheard in the noise of a night
Of hustle and bustle, and rooms packed tight
With people, so busy and unaware
That a virgin’s sweat means God is here.
No warm, cosy glow; only candle-lit straw.
A manger and oxen and filth on the floor.
No sweet smelling incense or soft comfy chair,
But cold stone walls; acrid smells in the air;
And the breath of animals to supply the heat,
In this hole in the rock on an unnamed street.
But God’s not ignored the place that He’s chosen
To visit as a baby, when the night air’s frozen.
He treats some shepherds, the lowest of the low,
To front seat tickets at the greatest light show;
And singing and music like they’ve never heard before,
Which leaves them face down, shaking on the floor.
“Get up! Rejoice! For your king is here!
Run to the town and worship Him there.
Not in the palace so lofty and tall,
But lying in a stable, accessible to all.
So go! Take gifts and sing and feast,
For the mightiest God, has come down for the least.”
And in palaces and castles hundreds of miles away,
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A country’s elite, at the end of the day
Study changes in the stars and heavens which bring
News, that on earth is born a king.
A king so great that creation bows down,
And brings its own offering, unseen in the town.
Their journey is long and filled with pain,
Across scorching deserts and rugged terrain.
As days turn to months and months to years.
Following the bright star whenever it appears.
Then rejoicing and thanks when at last they find
A small boy, just walking; the Lord of mankind.
With regal bows and language unknown,
They offer their gifts to Mary’s son.
Gold, incense and myrrh; “What can I believe?”
His mother wonders as the visitors leave
To journey back east, their hearts on fire.
They’ve seen and worshipped the true Messiah.
And as years roll on by and the crowd’s anger grows,
In reaction to this radical who constantly shows
That God has no favourites; our rules don’t apply
To the values of heaven. “Crucify!” they now cry,
So He’s crowned and beaten and then nailed to a tree;
This King, Priest and Sacrifice; thorns and straw set us free.
Heartbeat
God’s heartbeat pulses through His creation.
Times; seasons; everything in its proper place.
Balance; order; so many surprises;
Reflect a mind so great, yet so unpredictable.
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Gazing on the wonders of the heavens;
Exploring the mysteries of the deep;
We, created beings,
Attempt to confine the Master Craftsman
Within a box; restricting Him to dimensions
We can understand and explain.
Only God has the power to contract Himself
To the dimensions of His creation.
And when he did, love flowed out to those around.
Lives were changed; nature obeyed His command;
Great storms stilled; death retired.
Who would have believed it possible?
Who could have constructed so simple, yet so costly a plan?
Only God Himself!
But why?
Because His heartbeat pulses through His creation.
And He so desires intimacy with those He has made
That no price was too high to pay
Prisons smashed; a curtain torn in two;
The eternal touching the temporal;
Infinite kissing finite; omnipotence cradling frailty.
How strong is God’s heartbeat and yet how gentle!
Mortal meets immortal without injury.
In His healing fire, lost, lonely, hurting souls
Find security.
Please beat heart of God, in this frail, failing soul.
Translate me from the margins of your community
To the center of your love.
Play Rhythm of Life,
Deep within my wounded and broken spirit,
So that I may once again dance with joy,
And sing with all my heart.
Lovingly interlock the jigsaw pieces of my shattered life,
To create a new picture;
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A picture pulsing with your life, love and power;
In time with your own heartbeat.
True Science
From Molecule, to cell to organism;
Micro-organization on a vast scale,
Revealing the skill of a Master Craftsman.
Not some random assembly of atoms
Driven together by increasing probability.
But a canvas on which the mind of God
Is painted in glorious Technicolor.
The beauty of a flower;
The translucence of a butterfly’s wings
Reflecting colors so numerous and diverse.
Light cascades into a thousand diamonds
As a raindrop, clinging to a shivering leaf,
Splits the sun’s warming rays.
One million ants move in harmony,
Jealously guarding mysteries so deep
That the minds of men have not begun to understand.
In the nucleus of the smallest cell,
DNA, life’s alphabet, unwinds to replicate;
Intimate interplay under nature’s control;
The smallest governing and controlling the largest.
And in the vastness of space,
One million million shining stars
Are only the beginning!
Universe upon universe, galaxy upon galaxy.
Each course so finely defined
That one small change would signal the end.
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Perimeters expanding so rapidly
That we cannot begin to comprehend its vastness.
Time; space; living organisms; single cells.
Contained within the Creator’s hands;
Seen by the Creator’s eye;
Loved and cherished;
Shouting the praises of God;
Set in place, given a purpose.
Singing a unique song.
So, my friends, discover true science;
And discover God!
God is always with us. The question is; would we recognize Him if we met Him?
The Stranger
What is your name?
God!
Who are you?
Your maker.
Have you been there long?
Forever!
Where did you come from?
I’ve been here all the time.
Why haven’t I seen you before?
You haven’t looked.
How can I trust you?
Try me!
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Seeing God in a personal crisis is hard and often difficult to believe. However, whether we ‘see’ Him or not, it is a fact that He is there.
Always There
Where was your love when my world fell apart?
Where was your love that I felt at the start?
Where was your love when I cried out in despair?
But my child, my love was always there!
Where was your love as my friends let me down?
Where was your love, the verb, not the noun?
Where was your love when my family showed no care?
But my child, my love was always there!
Where was your love when they hated me for my race?
Where was your love when they spat in my face?
Where was your love when those I loved were so unfair?
But my child, my love was always there!
Where was your love when Christ hung on the cross?
Where was your love as He felt such bitter loss?
Where was your love as He died broken and bare?
But my child, my love was always there!
Where is your love when a bereaved partner cries?
Where is your love when a new born baby dies?
Where is your love when we can’t even utter a prayer?
My child, my love is always there!
Dawn
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My days bring nothing but trials.
I know you’re there;
It’s just that when I’m in the thick of it,
You seem so far away.
There’s never just one problem!
One after another they assault me,
Fighting for my time and energy.
Draining me, turning me this way and that.
I feel like an ant in a rainstorm.
And yet, I know you’re there.
This is the solid rock that keeps me sane;
That holds me steady.
Everything el